Food processors are extensively employed for domestic and food service purposes. A typical prior art food processor includes a base in which an electric motor is located. The motor includes a shaft that extends upwardly through the base through a bottom face of a specially designed bowl. A blade assembly, including a cutter head, plural blades and a shaft which fits over the motor shaft and is splined thereto, is located in the bowl such that, in one arrangement, the blades are always close to the bottom of the bowl while the shaft is turning, but in a second arrangement, the blades are always close to the top of the bowl while they are turning. Food items to be cut or diced are placed in the bowl through an opening in a lid or cover of the bowl, or the bowl cover is selectively removed to enable the food product to be placed in or removed from the bowl. Usually, an elaborate mechanical arrangement is included to assure that the user of the food processor cannot insert her or his body parts into the bowl while the motor is driving the blades. This switch arrangement is necessary because the food to be cut or diced may be inserted through the opening in the cover while the blades are being driven at very high speed by the motor.
Because of the elaborate mechanical arrangement for aligning the bowl, cover and housing to prevent ingress of user body parts into the bowl while the blades are turning and food is being inserted into the cover, the prior art food processor bowls and/or covers include many projections, resulting in nooks and crannies that are frequently difficult to clean and from which food is not readily removed. Another disadvantage of the prior art food processor containers is that they cannot be used in a refrigerator or a cooking cavity, such as a microwave oven.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved food processor which is relatively easy to clean since it employs bowls or receptacles having conventional jar-like shapes.